


explosions are a lot louder than people think they are.

by rainyri0t



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Deaf Character, Deaf Spencer Reid, Episode: s04e03 Minimal Loss, POV Second Person, explosions are fuckin loud dudes seriously, kinda????? yeah., lowercase for the aesthetic tbh sorry, noise induced hearing loss, sudden deafness, sure, uuhh fuckin uuhhhhhhhhhh, yeah.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 08:07:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17220134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainyri0t/pseuds/rainyri0t
Summary: if you had known that it would be the last word you’d hear yourself say, you may have said a little more.





	explosions are a lot louder than people think they are.

it goes a little like this:

 _ONE._ jessica picks up the yellow detonator that cyrus had dropped, chest heaving and eyes brimming with tears born of grief / unbearable trauma / the need to please Him, to finish the work of the true Messiah. she looks at you, looks at morgan, and you know that this blue eyed, blonde haired, peachy toned _child_ has nothing more to live for.

 _TWO._ you scream **RUN,** voice raw, desperate.

 _THREE._ if you had known that it would be the last word you’d hear yourself say, you may have said a little more.

 _FOUR._ explosions are a lot louder than people think they are. 

it’s more than boom, it’s more than pow; it is cyrus’s foretold Coming of Christ, it is simultaneously the Beginning and the End. it’s red hot and scorching. it’s screeching and whirring and whining and high pitched pulsating _goddamn fucking unbearable_ \-- --

you don’t register the fact that there’s a real problem until prentiss pulls you into a hug. you feel the vibration against her chest -- she’s saying something -- and yet, you cannot hear her over the shrill screech.

she pulls away, looks at you, brows raised. she opens her mouth, she says something that looks vaguely like your name, looks vaguely _like are you okay?_ you think that you whisper _i can’t hear you._ shock, and then the realization that you can’t hear yourself, either. 

it goes a little like this:

 _ONE._ hotch is the one who silently convinces you to go to the hospital, but morgan’s the one who rides with you despite the slightly slurred _i’m fine, don’t worry about it, i -- i’ll be… cleared to fly in no time._ you notice that your tongue slurs a lot more when you can’t hear what your saying; nothing feels as sharp as it should be.

 _TWO._ morgan keeps you calm on the way there and when you’re waiting to be seen by the doctor. he should be seen, too -- those cuts look nasty and you try to tell him this -- but he refuses to leave, stubborn as ever

 _THREE._ you’re both there for thirty minutes before you read what you already know from the doctor’s lips: deaf. 

_FOUR._ you’re there for another hour or two, maybe longer, before you read another word from his lips: permanent. he’s saying something else, probably some bullshit about surgeries that Might fix this, that Might help you hear again, but that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars that you don’t fucking have. you’re not paying attention anyway; you’re clenching your jaw and trying to keep yourself from mourning the job that you can no longer do.

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a little drabble that i wrote at like 4am BUT i'm thinking of turning into.. a mini series of sorts? let me know if you'd be interested in that! 
> 
> as always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. hmu on tumblr @punkrott!!


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